HYDRO Hello from a complet novice

[Welshboykev]

Hi guys just like to say thanks for having me here I have never posted or talked to anyone about my cannabis as I'm paranoid 😅

Anyway a little about me I'm 45 and smoked for 30 years and finally decided to grow my own for my new years resolution really good in the garden can grow pretty much anything so why not try

Ok so bought a mars hydro 2ft x 4ft tend and a 240w led full spectrum light (samsung 3001h) or something like that I decided to go with hydro because reading a lot this looked a good way and new experience for me anyway seed was planted (alaskan purple) January the 1st lol only thing really baffled me is all the nutrients and what to use so the shop I was getting everything from did a pack with everything needed in a box plus a mixing chart so I thought that's the one ( dutch pro hydro sw ) so it's been a little over a month and I'm starting to see some problems I think it maybe over feeding and nutrient burn or i need calmag but don't want to just start throwing other stuff in without knowing properly first hopefully some1 here can help please ,

Ok so my ph is 6.0 the ec is 1.0 ppm is 640 water temp about 19 my room temp is 20 - 26 I have humidity of 55- 65 my light is 24 inches away from plant and with my phone light brightness shows about 250000

I think this is all the info I got if there's anything els I need to add anyway thanks again for having me and I try not to ask too many stupid questions

[Eliot Pryor]

Welcome fellow grower !! I hate to say this but looks like bugs. I have had this a few times. I use neem oil to remedy it. Good growing to you !!

[Welshboykev]

Ok I definitely don't think it's bugs after your comment I started worrying and went a bit crazy on my first proper low stress training and removed the damaged leaves as most of them are the older big leaves with the brown staining I have also just put the leaf under my microscope and the brown patches look like a Amber liquid and it's only on top of the leaves nothing at all under them so unless you mean bugs in the water that I can't see but this is the first time I opened to look at the roots and there's millions and all looking beautifully white I will add a pic of my first training I felt so bad cutting her and bending I hope I haven't killed it 🙏

Also thankyou so much for your time I really do appreciate any and all help if I'm doing something wrong

[CaptainWiese91]

have she always been that light green ?

[Welshboykev]

Yes the older leaves are a bit darker and this is why I was thinking I might need calmag as I'm living in South Wales and the water is soft

[CaptainWiese91]

From my experience it doesnt look like it wants cal mag. Cal deficiency should show some brown/Rusty spots on the leaves. Mag Deficiency would show some color change from all the edges and in toward the middle of the leaf.. So i dont think you have a cal / mag deficiency mate

But as i was writing i noticed some rust spots on some leaves. but that was the old picture you oploaded. Well if you are not feeding it cal mag i would maybe start giving it some. It sure would not hurt the plant.

[Welshboykev]

It seems quite healthy other than the rusty spots on the older leaves hopefully someone might have a answer, also would really appreciate comments on my first training does it look OK to you professionals 👍

[CaptainWiese91]

but you need to treat the rust spots. If its missing the cal or mag, you will get a sick plant if not treated right. And you will loose a lot of vigor. building the stem cells in the plant is relying on the cal and mag.

To me it doesnt look healhty, and it will only get worse. you sure you dont have PH fluctations in the water?

[YYCannabis]

It’s usually not recommended to do too much training while a plant is sick.

[Welshboykev]

My ph I have set to 5.8 - 6.0 only because what I have read is best for Dwc it never really moves

[CaptainWiese91]

Fine. But if you don’t care about the rust spots, because you think otherwise the plant looks healthy. Then don’t add any cal mag.But my opinion is you should start adding some cal mag supplement

[YYCannabis]

You need to let the pH float from around 5.5 to 6.5. Pinning it between 5.8-6.0 causes issues. (See chart below) Currently, Mn, Mg, and Ca have been deprived if you’ve maintained those levels for too long. Bring you’re pH up to around 6.4-6.5 to help with the Mg and Ca. For most people, the pH will drop or climb when they do a fresh nute change. Use this to your advantage if you know which way your pH fluctuates and how much it fluctuates. 👍

Are you treating the roots to protect from rot?
Have you recently increased the the nutes? (I’d reduce slightly for a week)
How often do you replace fresh nute? Do you do plain water top-ups?

ps: Welcome to GWE 😁

[Welshboykev]

This is what my original post says I'm asking what are the brown spots and after reading so many different posts I really got no idea as this is my first ever grow only thing I thought its either nutrient burn because I just read somewhere on this site that you should start off with half the nutrient strength from seed OR its a calcium deficiency because of my soft water but then again it could be anything I really don't know like I said this is my first ever plant and need all the help I can get

[YYCannabis]

That’s what we’re here for 😉
As i mentioned, you have several issues happening all at once which is why none of the symptoms match any normal single problem. The great thing about DWC is the ability to rapidly respond to feed issues with a quick nute replacement.

[YYCannabis]

Also....with hydro, you need to check 3 things every day:
1) Water level (is she drinking water)
2) PPM/EC level (is it rising or dropping)
3) pH (rising or dropping)

Refer to chart below. It’s probably the most important chart to know for hydro.

[Welshboykev]

Arrr now we talking I have only changed the water once in a month I left the seed in it for about 3 weeks and did a complete change about 2 weeks ago before the water change I was topping up a few pints of water every few days but now I don't seam to do it so much I check ph every day I started at 6 and it went down to 5.8 after a week this is another thing I'm not sure about how do I change water and when do I just keep topping up with new stuff or completely change it to new every week month ? The nutrients I bought dutch pro came with root riot that supplied looks after roots also 1 thing I missed I got my lights dimmed about half way and will turn them on full when it goes to flower is this right ? And also how's my low stress training did I do it correctly 😅 thanks so much them charts are very useful 👍

[YYCannabis]

I DWC in 5gal buckets. For small seedling and early veg i don’t usually do a water change unless the plant shows me she needs something. Once the plant starts to grow from early veg to late veg (then all through harvest), I’ll do a full change once a week with only mid-week top-ups when needed. Again, referring to the chart i posted, i make reference to that chart and use it as my guide to my course of action. Never do to plain water top-ups 2x between full changes.

Oh... and turn your lights up. Photons are food and your plant is mature enough to take on more light. That might help explain the pale green color of her.

[gbauto]

Well, I think that you may have discovered your issue...
I know that some folks never change their rez, but I think that if you don't, the plant will use some of the elements in solution, and it'll end up creating a deficiency.
I will do a system dump every 10-14 days, depending on how vigorous the plant is growing.
I use similar lighting(30w/sqft) in my grows and veg at 50% power@20", and then 100%@20" during flower.
I agree with YY, light is food for the plants.

[Welshboykev]

Thankyou so much guys I really appreciate your time and help I've been bursting to show and tell some1 and get a better understanding of DWC

Ok so I've completely dumped the water and put all new I was a lot more precise this time I think I added a tiny bit more last time thinking a tiny bit more was better so the EC is slightly lower 0.9 and as you suggested raised the ph to 6.5 as I can see by the chart I was starving the calcium also I have turned the light up to max its set at 18 inches and useing the "LUX APP" on my phone it has moved from 25000 lux to 38000 not that I think the app it totally accurate but it gives a rough idea so fingers crossed its going to be OK I bought the alaskan purple from seedsman because it says it's very forgiving for beginner growers and mistakes ...

Ok i will let you know how I get on and give a update in a few days only 1 more question would it hurt if I buy some calmag and put it in anyway because of my soft water or would the higher pH be ok ..maybe just wait and see first

Thanks again 🙏✌

[YYCannabis]

Yes. Get some cal/mag.

Don’t trust an app on your phone to tell you where to set your lights...watch for your plant to tell you how much light she can take.

[Welshboykev]

Here's a update after my first ever LST then total change of water has ph 6.4 , ec 0.8 ppm 500 also now with additional of calmag plus the lights are on max now instead of half way 120w to 240w
the plant didn't do much first 2 days especially after its been through all that in 1 day 😀 but she's bouncing back a bit now only a few little brown spots but nothing on the new leaves and I think it's starting to go a little bit darker green anyway what do you guys think does it look like it's on the right track to you experts any and all comments welcome

[YYCannabis]

It’ll take a few days. With any luck she will recover just fine 👍